Tales from the (FOI) dark side

By Joel Campbell
SPJ FOI Committee Chairman

While Halloween is just around the corner there are plenty of Freedom of Information horror stories from places across the country. Please excuse a little blogger’s license as I chronicle a few scary stories.

A frightening public records audit in Colorado
A  records audit results released Friday, shows it can be a unnerving experience to ask for records in Colorado, according to a statewide survey conducted by 23 newspaper members of The Associated Press and the Colorado Press Association over the summer.  Denver Post

RIP: Law dies at governor's hand
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a California law that would have made public records requests on the Internet easier and empowered the attorney general’s office to mediate freedom of information disputes. The law would have required the state attorney general to review an agency’s denial of a public record request and provide a written opinion on the validity of the denial within 20 days of being asked by the requester. Open government advocates had pushed for the measure as an alternative to costly litigation. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Maryland’s quasi-public dark alley

Maryland’s highest court will hear whether Baltimore Development Corp. can continue closed-door operations because it says it is exempt from the states’ open meetings and public records laws because it is a “quasi-public” entity.The case raises many issues about quasi-public entities particularly in light of efforts to privatize government services. Without laws to force quasi-public and privatized services into the sunshine, there could more important information placed beyond the reach of citizens whose tax dollars are affected by the decisions of these groups. Baltimore Sun

North Carolina’s vault of secrets

Columbus County, N.C. – The Whiteville News-Reporter is taking on county government says Columbus County's leaders are repeatedly breaking North Carolina’s public records law. Government leaders are attempting to hide important information from residents.

The whole thing began when a reporter for the paper noticed a proposal to give the Columbus County commission life-long health insurance benefits.  When the reporter asked for the documentation about it she says she was met with a brick wall. The paper says the County has continually broken North Carolina's public records law.  Whiteville News-Reporter

Monterey’s doomed records
The Monterey, Calif., Peninsula Airport District is accused by a former employee of violating state public records law by destroying all copies of a district-commissioned personnel survey. The Monterey County District Attorney's Office, also, is looking into the fate of the 2005 report compiled by an airport district consultant, in response to a complaint lodged last week by a candidate for the district board of directors. Dan Presser, a Carmel travel agency owner and one of six candidates on the Nov. 7 district ballot, has asked the district attorney and county grand jury to investigate what he calls "the disappearance" of the report done last year. Monterey Herald

Not a ghost of a chance to see any records

Three months after a Senate panel voted to spend $20 million on a proposed disaster response center for Mobile, Ala. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has no records or plans related to the project, a top manager said in a letter to the Press-Register. A search of NOAA files "failed to identify" any such documents, Budget Director Steven Gallagher wrote in an Oct. 3 reply to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the newspaper in July. Later, an official said plans were under development. Mobile Register

 

Committee getting out the gremlins in San Jose Sunshine Law talks

A sunshine law is needed in San Jose to restore public trust in City Hall and to ensure that residents can get the information they need to participate in decision-making. The state's open-meetings law, the Brown Act, is far too weak: While claiming to adhere to it, city officials started buying land for a possible downtown ballpark without ever having a public discussion about the location. No wonder neighborhood leaders are frustrated.

The Mercury News and community groups began campaigning for a sunshine law last year after a series of abuses. This spring the council agreed to name a 15-member task force representing a wide range of interests -- neighborhoods, business, labor, media, government -- to hash out a proposal. The group has been meeting roughly twice a month. San Jose Mercury News opinion

 

A prescient solution for Kansas executive sessions

The Kansas Open Meetings Act requires tax-funded agencies, such as city councils and school boards, to conduct business in public to ensure openness and accountability. However, the law contains one exception -- the "executive session" -- that is fraught with potential for abuse. Basehor Sentinel opinion

 

A cautionary tale from Missouri
Randolph County, Mo., Presiding Commissioner Jim Myles offers some good advice to county commissions regarding compliance with Missouri's Sunshine Law: "Do it yourselves and be committed to keeping the public informed with good agendas and good minutes before someone gets the attorney general and forces you to."
That was said after Randolph County endured a special state audit and an investigation by the attorney general's office due to allegations of decisions made in secret meetings. The county now has a nine-page policy that guides the county's compliance with the Sunshine Law. Bolivar Herald-Free Press